Far left: With Reilly Wahlers (8) crouched and ready to make a play, Sela Backstrom (6) goes high into the air on her way to spiking the ball against Wrenshall. Above: Elsa Lunde bumps a ball to her frontcourt as Sophie Eliasen (4) moves in to help with the play. Left: Not in my house! Reilly Wahlers blocks a spike at the net. Staff photos/Laurie Johnson
Volleyball action was fast and furious in the Pam Taylor gymnasium last Thursday, September 13, as the Vikings faced the tough South Ridge Panthers.
The Vikings were down 6-0 in the first game and trailed by five or six points until getting to within three points at the three-quarter mark of the game. Down 17-14 off of back-to-back spikes by Alyssa Fenstad Lashinski, the Vikings could never quite swing the momentum their way and fell by six, 25-19.
Game two featured a lot of long rallies with the Panthers winning jut enough to take the game 25-21. Several Vikings had big moments in the second game; libero Alyssa Spry made several great digs of balls almost on the floor while Abbie Crawford served well and Reilly Wahlers had some fine set assists.
During game three the Vikings got off to a better start, and led 8-4 before the Panthers dug their claws in and rallied to tie the score 8-8. The Vikings led 19-17 before giving up two points on serves and letting two balls drop to the floor because of miscommunication. The team ended up losing 25-22 but during the action freshman Morgan Starkey had two big spikes while Sophie Eliasen had some great digs and Bianca Zimmer some great set assists.
Using a jump serve, Alyssa Fenstad Lashinki also contributed some big points from her server position throughout the game.
The Vikings fell in three straight games 19-25, 21-25, and 22-25.
Alyssa Fenstad Lashinski led the team with 14 kills and 17 digs. Bianca Zimmer finished with15 set assists, Morgan Starkey had seven digs and five kills, Reilly Wahlers had eight set assists, 12 digs and Sophie Eliasen had 16 digs and three ace blocks.
The Panthers were led by Abby Almer, who had seven kills and 16 digs, and Cameron Olson who finished with six kills, two ace serves and two ace blocks.
Vikings beat Floodwood
It was the Vikings versus the Polar Bears in Floodwood on Monday, Sept. 17, and the Vikings prevailed in a tough match 3-1.
Cook County lost the first game 25-22 but came back to take the next three games 26-24, 25-16, 25-19.
A host of Vikings played stellar volleyball to lead the team. Sophie Eliasen finished with 12 set assists, 28 digs, and five ace serves. Reilly Wahlers had 15 set assists, 10 kills, and 25 digs. Bianca Zimmer contributed 28 set assists; Alyssa Fenstad Lashinski had nine kills and 20 digs; Morgan Starkey 15 digs; and Alyssa Spry finished with 15 digs.
The Polar Bears were led by C.J. Thompson who had 11 kills, 15 digs and three ace serves while Kylie Hart finished with 17 set assists and two ace serves.
Vikings beat Wrenshall
The Vikings bounced back from their road trip the next day, hosting the Wrenshall Wrens on Tuesday, Sept. 18, and took the match in three straight games, 25-13, 25-21, and 25-20 in front of a boisterous home crowd.
Freshman Morgan Starkey had seven kills, 12 digs and two ace serves in the match. Alyssa Fenstad Lashinski finished with 13 kills and five ace serves, Reilly Wahlers had five kills and 13 digs and Bianca Zimmer had 16 set assists.
Paige Johnson had 15 set assists and Cheyenne Carlson had nine kills for the Wrens.
After travelling to Two Harbors on Sept. 20, the Vikings will play the Proctor Rails at home on September 24. The game will start at 6:30 p.m. Come out and cheer for your Vikings!
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